Programmer saint to fix Apple flaws

A former Apple engineer has launched an effort to fix the security flaws disclosed by the Month of Apple Bugs project as they appear.

By
Matthew Broersma
| Jan 04, 2007

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A former Apple engineer has launched an effort to fix the security flaws disclosed by the Month of Apple Bugs project as they appear.

Landon Fuller, a BSD developer and one of the principal architects of Apple's BSD-based Darwin operating system core, said he stumbled across the Month of Apple Bugs (MOAB) project and would fix as many of the bugs as possible.

He has already released fixes for the first three flaws, and has started a newsgroup to coordinate patch efforts.

MOAB is releasing a bug related to Apple software such as Mac OS X or QuickTime every day in January, following similar programmes directed at Linux and browsers.

Fuller released a fix for the first bug, a serious flaw in QuickTime that exposes systems to attack via malicious websites, on the same day it was disclosed. Application Enhancer must be installed for the fix to work.

"Part brain exercise, part public service, I've created a runtime fix for the first issue using Application Enhancer," Fuller wrote on his blog, where the fix is made available. "If I have time (or assistance), I'll attempt to patch the other vulnerabilities, one a day, until the month is out."